News Limited reveals FPV’s Orion Falcon

FORD Australia’s crucial new Falcon was fully revealed for the first time by News Limited newspapers on Friday (July 13), when most of its metropolitan daily titles - including Melbourne’s top-selling Herald Sun and The Daily Telegraph in Sydney – published full-colour studio images of Ford Performance Vehicles’ 2008 sedan range at least eight months ahead of their official launch.

The computer generated pictures, which News Limited says were recovered by an eagle-eyed Herald Sun reader from a Melbourne rubbish tip, are believed to be accurate renditions of the top-shelf FPV Falcon which had been used for “focus group” research.

The nation-wide reveal of Ford’s flagship models (and therefore the Orion-codenamed Falcon on which they are based) so far ahead of their official launch is likely to further slow sales of the outgoing Falcon, which will be replaced by all-new sedan and wagon models before March, and a redesigned Falcon utility soon after.

Friday’s scoop shots rounded out a forgettable week for Ford, which began the previous Friday (July 6) when it was reported the Broadmeadows plant will produce a still-secret third model line alongside the slow-selling Falcon and Territory, in an effort to increase production levels from the 80,000 vehicles per annum it produces today to closer to its maximum capacity of 130,000.

It’s believed a compact Ford model, such as the Focus or a yet-to-appear small SUV to be produced from the same underpinnings, will be manufactured from completely knocked down (CKD) components.

Then last Wednesday GoAuto exclusively reported the death-knell for Falcon’s 47-year-old inline six-cylinder engine in 2010, attracting widespread coverage in both automotive and mainstream media last week.

The Blue Oval’s horror week concluded with News Limited’s blanket expose of the worst-kept Ford secret in recent times.

Ford Australia president Tom Gorman returned from two weeks’ vacation today but the company will not officially respond to what it says is pure speculation regarding a potential third model line or the demise of its current homegrown six.

And Ford’s response to first pictures of the hotly-anticipated Orion Falcon?“We think they’re pretty pictures and everyone should turn up next year to see what the car looks like,” embattled Ford spokeswoman Sinead McAlary told GoAuto.